Jack Canfield shares four ways to manage imposter syndrome: accept your inner critic instead of fighting it, take small risks to build evidence of your abilities, track your wins through daily journaling, and surround yourself with supportive people. He suggests reframing doubt by asking "What if everything goes right?"
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Hi there, I'm Jack Canfield, co creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and the author of the Success Principles. And today I'd like to talk to you about overcoming the imposter syndrome and how to gain the confidence and self belief that's required to grow beyond your limitations and achieve big goals. That may scare you, But first I have to tell you something that may surprise you. Because the truth about overcoming imposter syndrome is you don't. More than likely you will always have that little voice inside your head whispering that you're not ready, you don't belong here, you don't have what it takes, you're fooling everybody. They're going to find out about it. There always be moments where you doubt yourself and wonder if you're doing the right thing. Now I have several friends that are movie stars, some of which have even won Academy Awards for best actor. And they still wonder if they're going to be able to pull off their newest role that they just got cast for. And that's okay. That's part of being human. Our brains are designed to alert us to danger. It's a survival mechanism and we need to be able to anticipate possible threats to our well being. And it's what allows us to prepare ourselves to face them and overcome them. And so that little voice that forces us to ask, what if everything goes wrong? Will never really go away. But just because those thoughts arise in your awareness, that doesn't mean you have to listen to them or, or attach any real meaning to them. Because once you're aware of them, you can choose to think different, more self affirming thoughts. And you can make it easier for yourself to think those self affirming thoughts by giving yourself a strong reason to believe them. So that the thoughts attach meaning and value to the ones that lift you up and empower you to take a leap of faith in the face of the unknown rather than to shrink back from risk and tell yourself you'll never succeed at it. And how do you make it easier for yourself to choose those self empowering thoughts? Well, the answer is deceptively simple. You provide yourself with proof that you can take risks and produce positive results. And the major way to get that kind of proof is by actually doing it. By trying new things, putting yourself in unfamiliar situations and taking on new challenges and succeeding and getting positive results with your efforts. That's one of the best ways how to quiet the voice that says you can't, by proving to yourself that you can. So I encourage you to commit to consistently take small risks that challenge you to improve your performance and get better results in all the different areas of your life. Now this can be as simple as posting on social media more often, or reaching out to make connections with people who can help you with your career goals. Or it can be something as big as signing up to run a marathon or asking someone you like out on a date or an rolling in a program that will dramatically level up one of your skill sets. The more risks you take, the easier it will be for you to see yourself as someone who takes on challenges and succeeds at them. So when any imposter syndrome thoughts pop up, as they will in your head, it will be so much easier for you to remind yourself that you deserve to be where you are and that you are indeed capable of accomplishing incredible things. Now, another thing I encourage you to do is to track your efforts and your results. I guarantee when you track your actions and your results, you're going to discover that in fact, you accomplish so much more than you think you do. On a daily, on a weekly, on a monthly, and a yearly basis. Every day you face challenges, you confront difficult choices, you make decisions, and you accomplish tasks that either lead you closer to or further away from your goals. And when you write these things down and you keep track of your actions and your results, you make it much easier to remember everything you've achieved. And that's one reason why daily journaling is such a powerful practice. It allows you to record your daily actions and your accomplishments and review them on a weekly basis so you never lose sight of your progress. But even when you're taking risks and tracking your progress, there will be times when you find it hard not to listen to your inner critic when it speaks up and says, well, just because you succeeded before, it doesn't mean you'll get lucky this time. And so that's why I also encourage you to build and maintain a support system of people outside of yourself who will cheer you on and remind you of what you're capable of achieving whenever self doubt threatens to derail your efforts. You see, we all need cheerleaders in our life. People who believe in us and who want the best for us and who are ready to give us the emotional, the spiritual, and the physical support we need to keep going in the face of the inevitable obstacles that we all have to overcome to achieve our goals. So if you don't have a network of positive and supportive people like this in your life, I want to encourage you to make finding them a high priority and a great place to start is right here in the Campfield community. If you have ever joined one of my online programs or attended one of my in person events, you know what I mean. The people who are attracted to learning and applying these success principles that I teach are an incredible group of people. So if you're looking for a group of like minded people to support and be supported by on your journey to a successful life, a life of happiness and fulfillment, you just might find them on my Facebook page. So those are my top tips on how to combat the Imposter syndrome. First off, recognize that your inner critic, that negative voice inside your head, will never completely go away. Next, focus on taking small risks that require you to grow as a person and prove to yourself that you're someone who is capable of embracing challenge and succeeding at it. And as you do that, be sure to track your results and review your progress regularly to keep your own achievements top of mind. And finally, be sure to surround yourself with positive, supportive people who remind you what you're capable of and cheer you on as you work toward your goals. So the next time your inner critic pops up, you simply think, oh, there's that voice again. And then you acknowledge it without attaching to it in any way. So instead of worrying what if everything goes wrong? You can challenge yourself by asking what if everything goes right? Alright, well, that's it for today. Thanks for watching. And now what I'd love for you to do is go to the comments and share one way in which imposter syndrome might be currently impacting your life and holding you back from your goals. Then commit to doing something different and building up the voice inside you that says I can instead of I can't. And remember, when you share your intentions publicly, you're giving them much more power. And for some additional tools and videos on how to overcome the imposter syndrome and achieve your goals in life, be sure to check out the resources page on jackcampfield.com I promise you'll find a ton of great free stuff there. So thanks again for watching and have an amazing day.
